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| Isa Muazu loses legal battle after starving self | |
| (33 minutes later) | |
| A Nigerian asylum seeker who starved himself for three months has lost his legal bid to stay in the UK. | A Nigerian asylum seeker who starved himself for three months has lost his legal bid to stay in the UK. |
| Isa Muaza, 45, had argued that he could be killed by Islamist militants. | Isa Muaza, 45, had argued that he could be killed by Islamist militants. |
| A psychiatrist found his "disturbed beliefs" formed part of a severe mental illness which led him to refuse food. He is being held in the medical wing at Harmondsworth detention centre. | |
| The Home Office has arranged to fly him to Nigeria after a previous attempt failed when the plane was turned back. | |
| An immigration tribunal ruled that Mr Muazu would be protected by the police, army and legal system in Nigeria. | |
| The tribunal said he would also be able to access Nigeria's medical services and pointed out that the Home Secretary Theresa May had offered to provide facilities to take him to hospital and meet the "reasonable costs" of health care. | |
| 'Witchcraft' | |
| Legal documents submitted to the tribunal said he had a severe psychiatric disorder which he "was not fabricating". | |
| Consultant psychiatrist Dr David Bell said Mr Muazu's "self-starvation" arose from "disturbed beliefs" that formed part of his mental disorder. | |
| The doctor, who was instructed by the Nigerian's lawyers, said it should not be described as a "hunger strike". | |
| According to the legal papers, another expert said Mr Muazu's mental illness would be perceived as "witchcraft...with the threat of violence" in parts of Nigeria. | |
| Mr Muazu's lawyers told the tribunal it would ask the Court of Appeal to review the decision - an application is expected to made later. | |
| They launched a fresh appeal to the Upper Immigration Tribunal in central London last week after a specially-chartered flight with Mr Muazu on board was refused landing rights in Nigeria and sent back to the UK. | |
| At the time of the failed deportation a member of the House of Lords said a doctor had judged him "too ill to fly". | |
| Mr Muazu began refusing food in September, arguing his asylum claim "was not treated fairly". |